Quirky Seattle – Fish Ladder, Locks, and a Troll

The Fremont Troll sculpture under a bridge in quirky Seattle (photo by Sheila Scarborough)

I’m not sure why I was so obsessed with a fish ladder, but on our one day in Seattle when we had a rental car (after a fun day trip to Snoqualmie Falls) I was absolutely determined to see the Ballard Locks where the fish ladder is located.

The official name is the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks; they’re in the northern part of the city and connect Lakes Union and Washington to Shilshole Bay in Puget Sound.

The ladder is a series of 21 stepped pools called weirs. They help salmon migrate upstream from Puget Sound so that they can spawn (lay eggs) in early fall, and for the young fish to return to the Sound. The fish even change color in the shift from salt to fresh water.

Sockeye salmon through viewing windows at Chittenden – Ballard Locks. Click the photo to see the original, and hey, Like their Page! (courtesy Hiram M. Chittenden Locks Page on Facebook)

From the Chittenden website:

“When we see them at the Locks they are silver color, called ‘ocean phase,’ and are easily identified from other salmon species by the lack of spots on their backs….As they journey through fresh water to the spawning beds their bodies will take on the distinctive red color called ‘freshwater phase.'”

The salmon weren’t quite active on the ladder yet when we were there in April, so there wasn’t much to see through the thick underwater viewing windows at the little ladder Visitors Center, but it was fun to learn how the process works.

The photo to the left shows what it looks like when the fish are migrating, courtesy the Chittenden Facebook Page…

From the website, the best times to view are:

“Chinook, or King Salmon, July through November (best viewing last two weeks of August)

Coho, or Silver Salmon, August through November (best viewing last two weeks of September)

Sockeye, or Red Salmon, June through October (best viewing July)”

Kinda creeped out by the little critters in formaldehyde, though….

Baby fish growth stages on display – this is the progression of Chinook salmon yoke-sac fry development, at the Ballard Locks in northern Seattle (photo by Sheila Scarborough)

The ladder was first built in 1917, then replaced by a larger one in 1976.

People have been fishing here for a very long time – the location is actually reserved by treaty for the Muckleshoot and Suquamish tribes to fish, and they help manage fish counts and population protection along with the state of Washington.

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